Posted on 05/23/2004 8:18:53 PM PDT by I_saw_the_light
ERIE, Pa. - A pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank, then was killed by a bomb fastened around his neck, was told he had just 55 minutes to disarm the explosive, according to details from a coroner's report.
Brian Wells, 46, died shortly after the Aug. 28 robbery. He told police who apprehended him that he had been forced to rob the bank by someone who locked the collar bomb around his neck.
Authorities surrounded Wells and were waiting for a bomb squad to arrive when the device detonated.
The report by the Erie County Coroner's Office includes previously unreleased details about the crime, including instructions in a letter that Wells said he was given by an unknown group of people who locked the bomb onto him, the Erie Times-News reported in Sunday's editions.
"The subject was given 55 minutes to rob the bank and follow the remainder of the written directions, which included an elaborate scheme of traveling from one location to another to find additional instructions on what action to perform next, where to leave the money he had stolen and how to safely disarm the explosive device in order to save his life," the report said.
The FBI (news - web sites) has declined to release many of those details, although agents have said that the instructions Wells received in the handwritten letters were too complicated to complete before the bomb exploded.
The coroner's report does differ in one respect from what Wells told troopers that day: The report said that Wells told authorities a group forced him to wear the bomb, even though Wells referred only to an unknown "he" as he pleaded with police to remove the collar that day.
"He pulled a key out and started a timer," Wells can be heard telling troopers on a video taken by WJET-TV. "I heard the thing ticking when he did it."
The FBI has not ruled out that Wells participated in the scheme to rob the bank, which has angered Wells' family. Special Agent Bob Rudge, who heads the FBI office in Erie, declined comment on the coroner's report.
I still believe that the police were in no way going to help this guy out - they wanted him to die alone. Not one had the courage to help - in fact, all held guns on him the entire time in case he tried to move.
I think the cops did the right thing. How did they know that this guy wasn't some kind of suicidal bomber looking to take some lives?
The APDD.
Well... let's just say the whole situation was untenable. But I wouldn't call what they did "RIGHT".
What do you think they should have done? I'm not attacking you, just curious as what you think. :-}
Hence my use of the word "untenable".
That was a strange circumstance those cops found themselves in and I can almost guarantee they had trouble sleeping at night.
Maybe they could have thrown him a pair of aviation snips?
It's difficult to second-guess a situation like this. But all things being equal it seems more sensible to do something than to do nothing.
Snipping the collar might have set it off. But at least it would have given the victim a choice.
"Check this out!
The APDD."
Interesting page. Even pizza drivers have their own association. If you go to that page, check out one of the recent incidents, entitled "Pizza Hut fires driver for saving his life." It's the story of a self-defense shooting last week in Indianapolis. Pizza driver pumped 15 rounds into some marauder, killing him. Perp had a handgun; driver did too, and a weapons permit to boot! Driver says he's going to buy another gun the same day and go back to work for a different pizza company.
Gotta admire his spirit!
This was just horrible. Terror plot, perhaps? Terrorist experiment?
Came across this and I just had to register and jump in with an idea...
If this ever happens again, wedge some bullet proof vest material in between him and the bomb, and get him in the nearest swimming pool. I saw a documentary once on how water absorbs explosions well.
My heart goes out to the guy and his family.. truly shocking.
You're right, of course. Giving the victim any sort of choice at all would be preferrable to what was done - nothing.
Do suicide bombers plead for someone to "please take this thing off of me"?
Oh Come on!! NO ONE had ever dealt with a problem like this...NO ONE! The police is NOT at fault.....20/20 HINDSIGHT is perfect, isn't it. This was an IMPOSSIBLE situation.
Although it happens from time to time, and they do take lots of chances...... Cops are not paid to trade their life for anyone else's. Any Cop that would have just walked up to that guy would have been a fool.....that's called "Tombstone Courage". Any Cop with TC needs to find a different line of work. Any Cop who didn't treat that guy as a possible threat and/or a suspect, would have been a fool. Any Cop who would have been touching or standing next to that guy when the bomb went off, would have been dead.....a dead fool.
Please know, I am not trying to pick on anyone, I just happen to know what I am talking about on this subject.
OH THE HUMANITY!!!!! LOL!! That Lovey lady of the Left.
LOL!!!!!!!
> "What do you think they should have done? " <
Helped him follow the instructions that might have saved his life. Instead, they did the same thing that the cops at Columbine High did while the teacher bled to death inside - protect themselves while harassing the innocent victims, while the perpetrators slip out of their reach.
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